Blade guard



Patented Aug. 8, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BLADE GUARD Jean .Frechtmann, Paris, France Application April 9, 1949, Serial Nb. 86,493

3 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a guard for the blades of cutting and similar articles and utensils, such as knives, saws, ice skates and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and convenient guard for blades of the character described which may be easily and readily placed, over the blade to keep its cutting edge safe and secure from damage, and safely and securely held in place thereon.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a blade guard of the character described which may be readily prefabricated or adapted by the user to conform to the shape of any particular blade with which it is intended to be used and to be fitted around the corners of blades.

It is another object of the present invention to i provide a blade of the character described whose shape may be readily and conveniently changed from one to another so that it may be readily and easily transferred from one use to another.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a blade guard of the character described which is of simple construction, which need not be prefabricated as to size and shape specifically for use with any particular article, but which may be readily adapted for use with any article by cutting it to size and forming it to shape.

The foregoing and other advantages and superiorities of the blade guard of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings and from the description following. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by way of illustration only to make the principles and practice of the present invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a fragmentary view in elevation of a cutting implement, shown as a knife, with a blade guard of the present invention in position thereon;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the blade guard of Fig. 1 shown prepared for shaping to conform to the curvature and the point of the blade;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the guard of Fig. 1 showing a retaining clip in place thereon;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the clip shown in Fig. 4

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view through a modified form of guard shown as modified to receive another form of the clip;

Fig. 7 is an end View of the guard of Fig. 6; and,

Fig. 8 is a perspective of the retaining clip shown in Fig. 7.

Referring more specifically to the accompanying drawing, the blade guard of the present invention comprises a solid rod, ll], of an easily flexible, synthetic, organic, plastic material of any suitable type, a number of which are known in the market. An inwardly directed slot, H, is formed in the rod, preferably with rounded edges, i2, and extending to a depth greater than half its thickness and also preferably, of a slightly inwardly increasing width, which slot is adapted to receive therewithin and fit over the cutting edge of the blade, l3, such as of the knife, M, or of a saw or ice skates or the like.

The rod in is provided with a longitudinally or axially disposed aperture or passageway, l5, below the slot 1 l, and, if desired, also with similar apertures, l6, one to each side of the slot l I.

It will be apparent that the rod I B, being easily flexible may be bent to conform to curved or other types of uneven edges. However, in order to set the rod iii in the conformed shape to prevent its resiliently returning to its initial straight shape, there is arranged within the passageway I5 a stiff, rigid non-resilient element, such as a metal wire, ll, which, though it may be bent to any desired shape or curvature will remain in the bent shape and thus keep the rod [0 in the set shape preventing its return to its inital shape. If desired, additional element I! may be inserted in passageways 16.

In order to facilitate or make possible easier and more extreme shaping of the rod Ill, the rod it may be preformed or may be provided after formation and cutting to size, with. cut out notches, 8, at its top through the walls of the slot 5 I, to remove excess material, at intervals spaced in accordance with the desired curvature intended, to facilitate its bending and to relieve any counter pressure due to compression that may tend to straighten it out. It is thus possible by closely spacing a number of notches, as at l8 and iii" to enable the shaping and bending of the guard around a point as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing.

In order to more securely and safely retain the guard ii! over a blade, end clips, 20, may be provided in one form of U-shape, and they may be of resilient construction, and the legs 2!, which may converge slightly, may be inserted into the ends of the passageways I6 to press the two sides of the slot ll against the blade.

In the embodiment of Figs. 6 to 8 inclusive, wherein the passageways 16 are ommitted, horseshoe shaped recess 22, may be formed in the end of the guard I around the slot H in which may be inserted a horseshoe shaped resilient clip 23, the ends of which will likewise act to press the sides of the slot l l towards one another.

This completes the description of the several embodiments of the blade guard of the present invention. It will be readily apparent that it may be cheaply and economically produced in standard lengths from which it may be cut to size; that it may be readily shaped by the user by a simple operation of forming darts or notches therein to substantially any desired curvature; that it will remain firmly in adjusted shape; and that it will be held safely and securely on a blade to aflord it ample and effective protection against damage.

It will also be apparent that numerous modifications and variations in the blade guard of the present invention may be made by anyone skilled in the art, in accordance with the principles of the invention hereinabove set forth and without the use of any inventive ingenuity. I desire. therefore, to be protected for any and all such modifications and variations that may be made therein within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim is:

1. A blade guard of the character described,

comprising a readily flexible, organic, synthetic, plastic rod, adapted to be readily cut by a knife,

said rod having a slot formed longitudinally thereof extending its length and a substantial part of its thickness, said rod having a passageway formed therethrough longitudinally thereof below said slot and passageways formed therethrough to each side of said rod, a rigid, flexible, non-resilient metallic wire disposed at least in the passageway below said slot, and a substantially U-shaped resilient clip, having slightly converging arms adapted to have said arms inserted in the ends of said passageways to the sides of said slot to press the sides of said slot towards one another.

2. The blade guard of claim 1 wherein said rod is of cylindrical form and said slot is radially disposed therein.

3. The blade guard of claim 1 wherein said slot widens slightly inwardly and is formed with rounded edges to facilitate insertion of a blade.

JEAN FRECI-ITMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,011,613 Grasselly Dec. 12, 1911 1,178,533 Mitchell Apr. 11, 1916 1,593,935 Gerick et a1 July 27, 1926 1,838,492 Meyers Dec. 29, 1931 2,053,707 Farmer Sept. 8, 1936 2,344,575 Warren Mar. 21, 1944 

